The first of five volumes on the means by which Canadian communities can reduce the incidence of mental retardation, minimize existing impairment, and improve the quality of life of the mentally retarded, this booklet provides an overview of the types of conditions leading to mental handicap and what can be done to prevent or ameliorate those…

National language planning involves four interdependent processes that ideally constitute a cycle: fact-finding, policy formation, implementation, and evaluation. Each of these processes is more difficult in the relatively young but highly pluralistic nations of Africa. A community-based model of language planning offers ways to alleviate or…

In producing programs and establishing policy criteria for the institutional church in rural Canada, planners must deal with community groups or types in order to maximize the transferability of programs and policies. This paper discusses a two-dimensional typology (social context and social position) based on the belief that there is a real…

Establishing a British national strategy to tackle youth drug use would seem an obvious first step in solving the drug problem. Some ideas for remedying the drug problem among young people are presented in this conference report. Drug abuse among children and adolescents throws up some complex issues and the obstacles to any coordinated,…

In October 1999, the Regional Australia Summit was held in Canberra to allow people from regional, rural, and remote areas to contribute their perspectives on the challenges facing rural Australia. The Summit aimed to develop a national appreciation of those challenges, gather ideas on meeting the challenges, establish goals, and identify roles…

In 1977, the Bernard van Leer Foundation began supporting a project in Colombia that had the objective of improving the quality of early childhood care and education in a small village. The Costa Atlantica project offered an approach to development that was based on community organization, social management, participation, cooperation, popular…

In 1977, the Bernard van Leer Foundation began supporting a project in Colombia that had the objective of improving the quality of early childhood care and education in a small village. The Costa Atlantica project offered an approach to development that was based on community organization, social management, participation, cooperation, popular…

This paper is intended to stimulate debate about the need for national policies of early childhood education in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) by arguing that each country should have a set of policies that give early childhood education the importance it deserves as an arena for promoting human and social development. The paper reviews…